81058 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 21, 2023 / Notices 

limited to, whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus 

vannemei), banana prawn (Penaeus 

merguiensis), fleshy prawn (Penaeus 

chinensis), giant river prawn 

(Macrobrachium rosenbergii), giant tiger 

prawn (Penaeus monodon), redspotted 

shrimp (Penaeus brasiliensis), southern 

brown shrimp (Penaeus subtilis), southern 

pink shrimp (Penaeus notialis), southern 

rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus curvirostris), 

southern white shrimp (Penaeus schmitti), 

blue shrimp (Penaeus stylirostris), western 

white shrimp (Penaeus occidentalis), and 

Indian white prawn (Penaeus indicus). 

Frozen shrimp and prawns that are packed 

with marinade, spices or sauce are included 

in the scope. In addition, food preparations, 

which are not ‘‘prepared meals,’’ that contain 

more than 20 percent by weight of shrimp or 

prawn are also included in the scope. 

Excluded from the scope are: (1) breaded 

shrimp and prawns (HTSUS subheading 

1605.21.1020); (2) shrimp and prawns 

generally classified in the Pandalidae family 

and commonly referred to as coldwater 

shrimp, in any state of processing; (3) fresh 

shrimp and prawns whether shell-on or 

peeled (HTSUS subheadings 0306.36.0020 

and 0306.36.0040); (4) shrimp and prawns in 

prepared meals (HTSUS subheadings 

1605.21.0500 and 1605.29.0500); (5) dried 

shrimp and prawns; (6) canned warmwater 

shrimp and prawns (HTSUS subheading 

1605.29.1040); and (7) certain battered 

shrimp. Battered shrimp is a shrimp-based 

product: (1) that is produced from fresh (or 

thawed-from-frozen) and peeled shrimp; (2) 

to which a ‘‘dusting’’ layer of rice or wheat 

flour of at least 95 percent purity has been 

applied; (3) with the entire surface of the 

shrimp flesh thoroughly and evenly coated 

with the flour; (4) with the non-shrimp 

content of the end product constituting 

between four and ten percent of the product’s 

total weight after being dusted, but prior to 

being frozen; and (5) that is subjected to 

individually quick frozen (IQF) freezing 

immediately after application of the dusting 

layer. When dusted in accordance with the 

definition of dusting above, the battered 

shrimp product is also coated with a wet 

viscous layer containing egg and/or milk, and 

par-fried. 

The products covered by the scope are 

currently classified under the following 

HTSUS subheadings: 0306.17.0004, 

0306.17.0005, 0306.17.0007, 0306.17.0008, 

0306.17.0010, 0306.17.0011, 0306.17.0013, 

0306.17.0014, 0306.17.0016, 0306.17.0017, 

0306.17.0019, 0306.17.0020, 0306.17.0022, 

0306.17.0023, 0306.17.0025, 0306.17.0026, 

0306.17.0028, 0306.17.0029, 0306.17.0041, 

0306.17.0042, 1605.21.1030, and 

1605.29.1010. These HTSUS subheadings are 

provided for convenience and for customs 

purposes only and are not dispositive, but 

rather the written description of the scope is 

dispositive. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25735 Filed 11–20–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD506] 

Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to 

Specified Activities; Taking Marine 

Mammals Incidental to a Geophysical 

Survey in the Ross Sea, Antarctica 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of renewal 

incidental harassment authorization. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

regulations implementing the Marine 

Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), as 

amended, notification is hereby given 

that NMFS has issued a renewal 

incidental harassment authorization 

(IHA) to the United States National 

Science Foundation (NSF) to 

incidentally harass marine mammals 

incidental to a geophysical survey in the 

Ross Sea, Antarctica. 

DATES: This renewal IHA is valid from 

December 15, 2023 through December 

14, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the 

original application, Renewal request, 

and supporting documents (including 

NMFS Federal Register notices of the 

original proposed and final 

authorizations, and the previous IHA), 

as well as a list of the references cited 

in this document, may be obtained 

online at: https://www.fisheries.

noaa.gov/action/incidental-takeauthorization-national-sciencefoundation-office-polar-programsgeophysical. In case of problems 

accessing these documents, please call 

the contact listed below (see FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jenna Harlacher, Office of Protected 

Resources, NMFS, (301) 427–8401. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Marine Mammal Protection Act 

(MMPA) prohibits the ‘‘take’’ of marine 

mammals, with certain exceptions. 

Sections 101(a)(5)(A) and (D) of the 

MMPA (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.) direct 

the Secretary of Commerce (as delegated 

to NMFS) to allow, upon request, the 

incidental, but not intentional, taking of 

small numbers of marine mammals by 

U.S. citizens who engage in a specified 

activity (other than commercial fishing) 

within a specified geographical region if 

certain findings are made and either 

regulations are promulgated or, if the 

taking is limited to harassment, an 

incidental harassment authorization is 

issued. 

Authorization for incidental takings 

shall be granted if NMFS finds that the 

taking will have a negligible impact on 

the species or stock(s) and will not have 

an unmitigable adverse impact on the 

availability of the species or stock(s) for 

taking for subsistence uses (where 

relevant). Further, NMFS must prescribe 

the permissible methods of taking and 

other ‘‘means of effecting the least 

practicable adverse impact’’ on the 

affected species or stocks and their 

habitat, paying particular attention to 

rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of 

similar significance, and on the 

availability of such species or stocks for 

taking for certain subsistence uses 

(referred to here as ‘‘mitigation 

measures’’). NMFS must also prescribe 

requirements pertaining to monitoring 

and reporting of such takings. The 

definition of key terms such as ‘‘take,’’ 

‘‘harassment,’’ and ‘‘negligible impact’’ 

can be found in the MMPA and NMFS’s 

implementing regulations (see 16 U.S.C. 

1362; 50 CFR 216.103). 

NMFS’ regulations implementing the 

MMPA at 50 CFR 216.107(e) indicate 

that IHAs may be renewed for 

additional periods of time not to exceed 

1 year for each reauthorization. In the 

notice of proposed IHA for the initial 

IHA, NMFS described the circumstances 

under which we would consider issuing 

a renewal for this activity, and 

requested public comment on a 

potential renewal under those 

circumstances. Specifically, on a caseby-case basis, NMFS may issue a onetime 1-year renewal IHA following 

notice to the public providing an 

additional 15 days for public comments 

when (1) up to another year of identical, 

or nearly identical, activities as 

described in the Detailed Description of 

Specified Activities section of the initial 

IHA issuance notice is planned or (2) 

the activities as described in the 

Description of the Specified Activities 

and Anticipated Impacts section of the 

initial IHA issuance notice would not be 

completed by the time the initial IHA 

expires and a renewal would allow for 

completion of the activities beyond that 

described in the DATES section of the 

notice of issuance of the initial IHA, 

provided all of the following conditions 

are met: 

1. A request for renewal is received no 

later than 60 days prior to the needed 

renewal IHA effective date (recognizing 

that the renewal IHA expiration date 

cannot extend beyond 1 year from 

expiration of the initial IHA). 

2. The request for renewal must 

include the following: 


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• An explanation that the activities to 

be conducted under the requested 

renewal IHA are identical to the 

activities analyzed under the initial 

IHA, are a subset of the activities, or 

include changes so minor (e.g., 

reduction in pile size) that the changes 

do not affect the previous analyses, 

mitigation and monitoring 

requirements, or take estimates (with 

the exception of reducing the type or 

amount of take). 

• A preliminary monitoring report 

showing the results of the required 

monitoring to date and an explanation 

showing that the monitoring results do 

not indicate impacts of a scale or nature 

not previously analyzed or authorized. 

3. Upon review of the request for 

renewal, the status of the affected 

species or stocks, and any other 

pertinent information, NMFS 

determines that there are no more than 

minor changes in the activities, the 

mitigation and monitoring measures 

will remain the same and appropriate, 

and the findings in the initial IHA 

remain valid. 

An additional public comment period 

of 15 days (for a total of 45 days), with 

direct notice by email, phone, or postal 

service to commenters on the initial 

IHA, is provided to allow for any 

additional comments on the proposed 

renewal. A description of the renewal 

process may be found on our website at: 

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/ 

national/marine-mammal-protection/ 

incidental-harassment-authorizationrenewals. 

History of Request 

On December 15, 2022, NMFS issued 

an IHA to NSF to take marine mammals 

incidental to conducting a low energy 

seismic survey and icebreaking in the 

Ross Sea (87 FR 77,796, December 20, 

2022), effective from December 15, 2022 

through December 14, 2023. On 

September 7, 2023, NMFS received an 

application for the renewal of that 

initial IHA. As described in the 

application for renewal IHA, the 

activities for which incidental take 

authorization is requested consist of 

activities that are covered by the initial 

authorization but will not be completed 

prior to its expiration. As required, the 

applicant also provided a preliminary 

monitoring report (available at https://

www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/ 

incidental-take-authorization-nationalscience-foundation-office-polarprograms-geophysical), which confirms 

that the applicant has implemented the 

required mitigation and monitoring and 

which also shows that no impacts of a 

scale or nature not previously analyzed 

or authorized have occurred as a result 

of the activities conducted. The notice 

of the proposed renewal IHA was 

published on October 18, 2023 (88 FR 

71840). 

Description of the Specified Activities 

and Anticipated Impacts 

NSF initially described their activities 

as including two main survey areas (i.e., 

the Ross Bank and the Drygalski 

Trough). The purpose of the survey was 

to collect low energy 2D seismic 

reflection data, along with 

oceanographic and sediment samples to 

understand if, how, when, and why the 

Ross Ice Shelf unpinned from the Ross 

Bank in the recent geologic past. 

The initial planned survey involved 

one source vessel, Research Vessel Ice 

Breaker (RVIB) Palmer, using an airgun 

array cluster consisting of two 105 cubic 

inches (in3) GI guns, with a total 

discharge volume of 210 in3, deployed 

at a depth of approximately 1–4 meters 

(m) below the surface to conduct both 

of the survey segments. During the Ross 

Bank survey, ∼1920 kilometers (km) of 

seismic data was planned to be 

collected and during the Drygalski 

Trough survey, ∼1800 km of seismic 

acquisition was planned to occur, for a 

total of 3720 line km. During the 

Drygalski Trough survey portion, 2 

deployments of 10 Ocean Bottom 

Seismometers (OBS) were planned to 

occur along 2 different seismic 

refraction lines. 

The seismic surveys would occur 

within the Ross Sea in water depths 

ranging from ∼150 to 1100 m. The initial 

survey was expected to consist of 31 

days at sea, including approximately 19 

days of seismic operations (including 2 

days of sea trials and/or contingency), 1 

day of OBS deployment/recovery, and 

approximately 11 days of transit. 

Due to logistical challenges, the initial 

survey was not successfully completed. 

There was a long delay in leaving New 

Zealand due to an enforced quarantine 

after survey members tested positive for 

COVID–19 and only a subset of the 

survey activities in the initial IHA were 

completed. Specifically, under the 

initial IHA, the NSF completed surveys 

within the Ross Bank Area but not the 

Drygalski Trough area. 

This renewal request is to cover a 

subset of the activities covered in the 

initial IHA that will not be completed 

during the effective period of the initial 

IHA due to the aforementioned 

logistical challenges. The remaining 

survey activities would include the 

survey within the Drygalski Trough area 

and icebreaking and are expected to 

occur during February 2024 (11 days of 

transit, 9 days of seismic surveys, and 

1 day of OBS deployment and retrieval). 

The likely or possible impacts of the 

NSF’s activity on marine mammals 

could involve acoustic stressors and are 

unchanged from the impacts described 

in the initial IHA. Acoustic stressors 

include effects of the airgun array from 

the low-energy seismic surveys and 

icebreaking. The effects of underwater 

disturbance from the NSF’s activities 

have the potential to result in Level B 

harassment of marine mammals in the 

specified geographic region. 

Detailed Description of the Activity 

A detailed description of the survey 

activities for which incidental take is 

authorized here may be found in the 

notices of the proposed and final IHAs 

for the initial authorization (87 FR 

59204, September 29, 2022; 87 FR 

77796, December 20, 2022). As 

previously mentioned, this request is for 

a subset of the activities analyzed for the 

initial IHA that would not be completed 

prior to its expiration due to logistical 

challenges. The timing, and nature of 

the activities, including the types of 

equipment planned for use, are identical 

to those described in the previous notice 

for the initial IHA. The renewal IHA 

would be effective from December 15, 

2023 through December 14, 2024. 

Description of Marine Mammals 

A description of the marine mammals 

in the area of the activities for which 

renewal authorization of take is 

authorized here, including information 

on abundance, status, distribution, and 

hearing, may be found in the notice of 

the proposed IHA for the initial 

authorization (87 FR 59204, September 

29, 2022). NMFS has reviewed the 

monitoring data from the initial IHA, 

recent Stock Assessment Reports, 

information on relevant Unusual 

Mortality Events, and other scientific 

literature and determined there is no 

new information that affects which 

species or stocks have the potential to 

be affected or the pertinent information 

in the Description of the Marine 

Mammals in the Area of Specified 

Activities contained in the supporting 

documents for the initial IHA (87 FR 

59204, September 29, 2022). 

Potential Effects on Marine Mammals 

and Their Habitat 

A description of the potential effects 

of the specified activity on marine 

mammals and their habitat for the 

activities for which an authorization of 

incidental take is proposed here may be 

found in the notice of the proposed IHA 

for the initial authorization (87 FR 

59204, September 29, 2022). NMFS has 

reviewed the monitoring data from the 

initial IHA, recent Stock Assessment 


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81060 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 21, 2023 / Notices 

Reports, information on relevant 

Unusual Mortality Events, and other 

scientific literature and determined that 

there is no new information that affects 

our initial analysis of impacts on marine 

mammals and their habitat. 

Estimated Take 

A detailed description of the methods 

and inputs used to estimate take for the 

specified activity are found in the 

notices of the proposed and final IHAs 

for the initial authorization (87 FR 

59204, September 29, 2022; 87 FR 

77796, December 20, 2022). Specifically, 

the number of survey days, specified 

geographic region, specified activities 

and marine mammal occurrence data 

applicable to this authorization remain 

unchanged from the previously issued 

IHA. Similarly, the stocks taken, 

methods of take, take estimates and type 

of take (i.e., Level B harassment) remain 

unchanged from the previously issued 

IHA. The number of takes authorized in 

this renewal IHA are a subset of the 

initial authorized takes that better 

represent the amount of activity NSF 

has left to complete. These estimated 

takes, which reflect the remaining 

survey days and icebreaking activities, 

are indicated below in Table 1. 

TABLE 1—PROPOSED NUMBER OF TAKES BY LEVEL B HARASSMENT BY SPECIES AND STOCK AND PERCENT OF TAKE BY

STOCK

Species 

Level B take 

Total take 

proposed 

Population 

abundance 

Percent of 

Drygalski population 

Survey Icebreaking 

Humpback whale ................................................................. 159 266 425 42,000 1.0 

Fin whale .............................................................................. 152 254 405 38,200 1.1 

Blue whale ........................................................................... 32 54 86 1,700 5.1 

Sei whale ............................................................................. 23 38 61 10,000 0.6 

Antarctic minke whale .......................................................... 418 700 1,118 515,000 0.2 

Sperm whale ........................................................................ 49 82 131 12,069 1.1 

Southern bottlenose whale .................................................. 58 98 156 599,300 <0.1 

Arnoux’s beaked whale ........................................................ 66 111 178 599,300 <0.1 

Strap-toothed beaked whale ................................................ 22 37 59 599,300 <0.1 

Killer whale ........................................................................... 103 173 276 25,000 1.1 

Long-finned pilot whale ........................................................ 198 331 529 200,000 0.3 

Hourglass dolphin ................................................................ 94 157 251 144,300 0.2 

Crabeater seal ..................................................................... 3,361 5,629 8,990 1,700,000 0.5 

Leopard seal ........................................................................ 132 221 353 220,000 0.2 

Ross seal ............................................................................. 82 138 220 250,000 0.1 

Weddell seal ........................................................................ 527 883 1,410 1,000,000 0.1 

Southern elephant seal ........................................................ 1 1 2 750,000 <0.1 

Description of Mitigation, Monitoring, 

and Reporting Measures 

The mitigation, monitoring, and 

reporting measures included as 

requirements in this authorization are 

identical to those included in the initial 

IHA and the discussion of the least 

practicable adverse impact 

determination included in Federal 

Register notice announcing the issuance 

of the initial IHA remains applicable 

and accurate (87 FR 77796, December 

20, 2022). The following mitigation, 

monitoring, and reporting measures are 

proposed for this renewal: 

• Mitigation measures that would be 

adopted during the planned survey 

include, but are not limited to: (1) 

Vessel speed or course alteration, 

provided that doing so would not 

compromise operation safety 

requirements. (2) GI-airgun shut down 

within shutdown zones, and (3) rampup procedures; 

• During survey operations (e.g., any 

day on which use of the acoustic source 

is planned to occur, and whenever the 

acoustic source is in the water, whether 

activated or not), a minimum of one 

protected species observer (PSO) must 

be on duty and conducting visual 

observations at all times during daylight 

hours (i.e., from 30 minutes prior to 

sunrise through 30 minutes following 

sunset) and 30 minutes prior to and 

during ramp-up of the airgun array. 

Visual monitoring of the exclusion and 

buffer zones must begin no less than 30 

minutes prior to ramp-up and must 

continue until 1 hour after use of the 

acoustic source ceases or until 30 

minutes past sunset. Visual PSOs must 

coordinate to ensure 360 degree visual 

coverage around the vessel from the 

most appropriate observation posts, and 

must conduct visual observations using 

binoculars and the naked eye while free 

from distractions and in a consistent, 

systematic, and diligent manner; 

• The PSOs would establish a 

minimum exclusion zone (EZ) with a 

100 m radius with an additional 100 m 

buffer zone (total of 200 m). The 200 m 

zone would be based on radial distance 

from the edge of the airgun array (rather 

than being based on the center of the 

array or around the vessel itself); 

• An extended 500 m exclusion zone 

must be established for beaked whales, 

large whales with a calf (defined as an 

animal less than two-thirds the body 

size of an adult observed to be in close 

association with an adult), and an 

aggregation of six or more whales during 

all survey effort. No buffer zone is 

required; 

• Ramp-up is the gradual and 

systematic increase of emitted sound 

levels from an airgun array. Ramp-up 

would begin with one GI airgun 45 in3

first being activated, followed by the 

second after 5 minutes. The intent of 

pre-clearance observation (30 minutes) 

is to ensure no marine mammals are 

observed within the buffer zone prior to 

the beginning of ramp-up. During preclearance is the only time observations 

of marine mammals in the buffer zone 

would prevent operations (i.e., the 

beginning of ramp-up). The intent of 

ramp-up is to warn protected species of 

pending seismic operations and to allow 

sufficient time for those animals to leave 

the immediate vicinity. A ramp-up 

procedure, involving a stepwise 

increase in the number of airguns are 

activated and the full volume is achieve, 

is required at all times as part of the 

activation of the acoustic source; 

• The shutdown of an airgun array 

requires the immediate de-activation of 

all individual airgun elements of the 

array. Any PSO on duty will have the 

authority to delay the start of survey 

operations or to call for shutdown of the 


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acoustic source if a marine mammal is 

detected within the applicable 

exclusion zone. The operator must also 

establish and maintain clear lines of 

communication directly between PSOs 

on duty and crew controlling the 

acoustic source to ensure that shutdown 

commands are conveyed swiftly while 

allowing PSOs to maintain watch. When 

the airgun array is active (i.e., anytime 

one or more airguns is active, including 

during ramp-up) and a marine mammal 

appears within or enters the applicable 

exclusion zone, the acoustic source will 

be shut down. When shutdown is called 

for by a PSO, the acoustic source will 

be immediately deactivated and any 

dispute resolved only following 

deactivation; 

• Following a shutdown, airgun 

activity would not resume until the 

marine mammal has cleared the EZ. The 

animal would be considered to have 

cleared the EZ if it is visually observed 

to have departed the EZ, or it has not 

been seen within the EZ for 15 minutes 

in the case of small odontocetes and 

pinnipeds, and 30 minutes for 

mysticetes and all other odontocetes, 

including sperm and beaked whales, 

with no further observation of the 

marine mammal(s); 

• The NSF must deploy vessel strike 

avoidance measures; 

• The NSF must submit a draft report 

detailing all activities and monitoring 

results within 90 calendar days of the 

completion of the survey or expiration 

of the IHA, whichever comes sooner; 

• The NSF must submit a final report 

within 30 days following resolution of 

comments on the draft report from 

NMFS; and 

• The NSF must report injured or 

dead marine mammals. 

Comments and Responses 

A notice of NMFS’ proposal to issue 

a renewal IHA to NSF was published in 

the Federal Register on October 18, 

2023 (88 FR 71840). That notice either 

described, or referenced descriptions of, 

NSF’s activity, the marine mammal 

species that may be affected by the 

activity, the anticipated effects on 

marine mammals and their habitat, 

estimated amount and manner of take, 

and proposed mitigation, monitoring 

and reporting measures. NMFS received 

no public comments. 

Determinations 

NSF’s activities consist of a subset of 

activities analyzed in the initial IHA. In 

analyzing the effects of the activities for 

the initial IHA, NMFS determined that 

NSF’s activities would have a negligible 

impact on the affected species or stocks 

and that authorized take numbers of 

each species or stock were small relative 

to the relevant stocks (e.g., less than 

one-third the abundance of all stocks). 

The mitigation measures and 

monitoring and reporting requirements 

as described above are identical to the 

initial IHA. 

NMFS has concluded that there is no 

new information suggesting that our 

analysis or findings should change from 

those reached for the initial IHA. Based 

on the information and analysis 

contained here and in the referenced 

documents, NMFS has determined the 

following: (1) the required mitigation 

measures will effect the least practicable 

impact on marine mammal species or 

stocks and their habitat; (2) the 

authorized takes will have a negligible 

impact on the affected marine mammal 

species or stocks; (3) the authorized 

takes represent small numbers of marine 

mammals relative to the affected stock 

abundances; (4) NSF’s activities will not 

have an unmitigable adverse impact on 

taking for subsistence purposes as no 

relevant subsistence uses of marine 

mammals are implicated by this action, 

and; (5) appropriate monitoring and 

reporting requirements are included. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

To comply with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and 

NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 

216–6A, NMFS must review our action 

(i.e., the issuance of an IHA renewal) 

with respect to potential impacts on the 

human environment. 

This action is consistent with 

categories of activities identified in 

Categorical Exclusion B4 (incidental 

take authorizations with no anticipated 

serious injury or mortality) of the 

Companion Manual for NOAA 

Administrative Order 216–6A, which do 

not individually or cumulatively have 

the potential for significant impacts on 

the quality of the human environment 

and for which we have not identified 

any extraordinary circumstances that 

would preclude this categorical 

exclusion. Accordingly, NMFS 

determined that the issuance of the 

initial IHA qualified to be categorically 

excluded from further NEPA review. 

NMFS has determined that the 

application of this categorical exclusion 

remains appropriate for this renewal 

IHA. 

Endangered Species Act 

The NMFS Office of Protected 

Resources (OPR) Endangered Species 

Act (ESA) Interagency Cooperation 

Division issued a Biological Opinion 

under section 7 of the ESA (16 U.S.C. 

1531 et seq.) on the issuance of an IHA 

and potential renewal IHA to NSF under 

section 101(a)(5)(D) of the MMPA by the 

NMFS OPR Permits and Conservation 

Division. The Biological Opinion 

concluded that the action is not likely 

to jeopardize the continued existence of 

ESA-listed blue whales, fin whales, sei 

whales, and sperm whales. 

Renewal 

NMFS has issued a renewal IHA to 

NSF for the take of marine mammals 

incidental to conducting a geophysical 

survey in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, from 

December 15, 2023 through December 

14, 2024. 

Dated: November 16, 2023. 

Catherine Marzin, 

Deputy Director, Office of Protected 

Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25716 Filed 11–20–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

[RTID 0648–XD545] 

Pacific Fishery Management Council; 

Public Meeting 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of public online meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Pacific Fishery 

Management Council’s (Pacific Council) 

ad-hoc Klamath River Fall Chinook 

Workgroup will hold an online meeting. 

DATES: The online meeting will be held 

Tuesday, December 12, 2023 from 9 a.m. 

until 3 p.m., Pacific Standard Time, or 

until business for the day concludes. If 

needed, the meeting will resume on 

Thursday, December 14, 2023, from 9 

a.m. until 3 p.m., Pacific Standard Time, 

or until for the day business concludes. 

ADDRESSES: These meetings will be held 

online. Specific meeting information, 

including directions on how to join the 

meeting and system requirements will 

be provided in the meeting 

announcement on the Pacific Council’s 

website (see www.pcouncil.org). You 

may send an email to Mr. Kris 

Kleinschmidt (kris.kleinschmidt@

noaa.gov) or contact him at (503) 820– 

2280, extension 412 for technical 

assistance. 

Council address: Pacific Fishery 

Management Council, 7700 NE 

Ambassador Place, Suite 101, Portland, 

OR 97220–1384. 


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